IGN's Overall Best of E3 2009 Awards

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After one of the best shows in years, we pick the greatest games of the bunch.

By IGN Editorial Staff

The 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo has come and gone, but the games shown at the conference still loom large in our minds. From big-budget blockbusters to scaled-down surprises, there was something for every gamer at this year's E3.

As the conference unfolded at the Los Angeles Convention Center June 2-4, we kept a running tally of our favorite games on a big white board in our IGN E3 Command Center. When a new title blew us away, we wrote it down. When something surprised us, we wrote it down. When a behind-closed-doors demo made us want to get our wallets out and buy the game right then and there, we wrote it down.

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The games on that list eventually became our nominees for the best games of IGN E3 2009, and from there we narrowed it down to pick our final favorites. These are the games that got the IGN editors talking last week and haven't been able to shut up about since. So keep reading to find out which games wowed us most at E3, and make sure to read the individual channel awards by clicking on the links above. And if you want to see the biggest games from the show be sure to click on the links to the many demos, trailers, and gameplay clips we captured at the convention.

No one was certain what to expect from Alan Wake, a game long described as being a story-heavy survival horror title. But Alan Wake is actually an action title with a heavy dose of eerie atmosphere. The debut at the MS press conference revealed Alan Wake's clever use of lighting and fast-paced combat; the behind closed door sessions showed off the intense story elements that add depth to the action.

Capcom has released a number of cross-over fighting games in the past, ranging from the bonkers Marvel series to the more classical Capcom vs. SNK games. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom falls somewhere in between, with nutso aerial raves and oversized super moves balanced by a pace that's more sedate and calculated. We dig the compromise, and the multi-thousand billion damage combos.

At a time when many of us are starting to feel tired of music games, DJ Hero stands poised to recapture our interest. It's at once both familiar and new, presenting Guitar Hero-like gameplay with a fantastic, all-original tracklist of remixes and mash-ups. We have a feeling we'll be making room for one more plastic instrument when the game is released in October.

LittleBigPlanet was nothing short of a breakthrough title on the PlayStation 3 thanks to the coupling of incredible creation tools and physics-based gameplay. The PSP version looks to bring the same experience to Sony's handheld, featuring the same great, simple controls with inventive level design and tons of stickers and objects to collect. We're about to be hooked all over again.

In Scribblenauts, you've got a simple task: collect a star token placed in a strategic location, like on the top of a tree or on the other side of a dirt wall. If only you could call upon a vast assortment of items to assist you. Oh, wait, you can! If you can think of an item, chances are it's in Scribblenauts. If you want to burn down the tree with a torch and a puddle of gasoline, go right ahead. Half the fun of Scribblenauts is trying to stump the game's enormous database of stuff and trying to solve problems in ways that you'd never in a million years consider doing in other games.

Microsoft is keeping many of the new additions to its premier racing franchise under wraps, but what we've seen so far is already impressing car aficionados. More cars and more tracks with improved visuals are just the start. The livery editor is returning, backed by an in-game video editor to make your own highlight reels. And that is only the beginning.

Mass Effect 2 is a refinement of one of the best Western RPGs ever made. The choices made in the first game have a major impact on the sequel, creating a level of dynamic storytelling never before seen in gaming. The visuals are already superior to the original and the action has been streamlined to create a more immersive experience.

The Call of Duty franchise has set standards for first-person shooters since early 2000, and Infinity Ward is continuing that tradition with the highly-anticipated Modern Warfare 2. As the first official sequel game, MW2 drew crowds at the Activision booth this year, but only a select few had a chance to see the stealthy arctic espionage and high-speed snowmobile chases live behind closed doors. Holding a steady 60 frames per second and pushing the cinematic shooter to new heights, Modern Warfare 2 blew us away… even if that is starting to be par for the COD course.

The series that defined this generation of gaming is finally making its triumphant return to the ring. Fight Night Round 4 brings all-new physics-based fighting that takes into account every aspect of real boxing strategy. You'll need to both float like a butterfly and sting like a bee as some of the sports' greatest icons if you want to emerge as the champ.

Expanding on the scale and incredible battles of the first Supreme Commander would be a daunting feat. However, Gas Powered Games has managed to redesign just about everything in Supreme Commander 2. New AI, tech trees and path finding are merely the tip of this strategy game iceberg, which looks like it will dwarf its predecessor's considerable high standards.